December 29, 2005

An epic novel of love and war that radically defies conventional expectations, Birdsong moves back and forth between the second decade of our violent century and the near-present to explore how the absurd carnage of World War I devastated a generation throughout western Europe and left a heritage of confusion and loss.

Birdsong may have been a bestseller in England partly because the historical background is quite literally close to home and still poignant in the national psyche, but Sebastian Faulks, an experienced journalist, creates a world that should be memorably accessible to American readers who don't know Flanders Field from flan.

Six years before the war, his young British hero has a brief but scandalous affair with an older Frenchwoman. They will meet again in a lull between bloody battles, each physically wounded and unable to reignite the past, but the narrative core of Birdsong is the young man's struggle to survive the special horrors of trench warfare and find some meaning in the waste of millions of lives. The most effectively suspenseful scenes occur in the tunnels dug toward enemy lines by miners who then set explosive charges. Here, as throughout the novel, the research into the technical reality is evident but not obtrusive, subtly earning our trust. Cave-ins, explosions, attacks of claustrophobia, and sheer exhaustion kill those who aren't dispatched above ground by sniper fire, machine gun bullets, mortar rounds, and gas.

What prevents this grinding ordeal from becoming overwrought or crusted with political message is Faulks's extraordinary gift for significant physical detail combined with his surprising characterizations. His hero, for example, is not likably attractive but a grim, diffident loner who nonetheless becomes a compelling figure, especially in a moving climax that brings him out of a desperate situation into the rescuing arms of his supposed enemies. Minor characters, too, are quite originally portrayed with odd obsessions and unusual personal histories that underscore the infinite diversity of the war's nameless dead. Their heroism is that they slog through and endure, without drums and trumpets, even though their officers are murderously incompetent and the folks back home ungrateful and complacent.

After the war, the hero will discover that his affair produced a daughter, and it will be her daughter who translates his coded diaries in 1979, learning the truth about his famous love story, his experiences of war and the serenity he eventually achieves in marriage thereafter. That the novel ends with a birth might seem too doggedly symbolic a resolution, at first glance, but Faulks's compassionate dramatization and vivid description make the moment powerfully effective. It is one of several unexpected scenes that set this novel well apart from other wartime sagas.

A profoundly humane novel that tells a riveting story spanning four generations, Birdsong addresses grand themes of the human experience while also making us care deeply about several individuals yearning to find healing love and a rationale for survival in the midst of unprecedented destruction

I watched Bluffmaster last week with my cousins. We arrived a bit late at the theater. So, we had to buy tickets in black (I know it's a culpable offence and I feel very bad for that). Now, coming to the film, you gotta watch such films only in theaters. Don't dare watch it at home on a CD/DVD. You bet you will hate yourself for having wasted two precious hours on that film. One might get bored in the beginning but the tempo sets up only after the first thirty to forty minutes. It was nicely made and nicely told. People should look beyond the conventional love stories and action flicks for such films. Nana Patekar fitted the role well. So, did Boman Irani. If you got bored with all the romance and action being shown these days and would want to watch an entertainer light-at-heart, then go for Bluffmaster.My rating for this film- ****

( * you will shoot me ** waste of time *** can sit through the film**** worth watching once***** must watch )

December 20, 2005

I had a nice nap in the afternoon during TT lecture and was awakened by the Asso. Prof.. :D It was a nice experience though, being interrupted by your teacher in the middle of a relaxing nap. I was feeling very tired as I had no proper sleep last night. I was on my way home from Hyderabad on a bus. She woke me up and asked me if I was sleeping and I said yes. I thought she would ask some questions related to the topic she was teaching at that moment, but she didn't say anything, was that final semester freedom, or may be she felt empathetic towards me. I confirmed my project on Audio Signal Processing which I would start working on in the first week of January. And, that may extend up to two months. By the way, we had a blast of time in Hyderabad. Caught some memorable moments on cam.

December 15, 2005

We are about to enter the final phase of our engineering. Twenty days later I will start doing my final Btech project. I will be doing it in signal processing related areas. Not yet confirmed. So, I may not blog for two months as I would have to leave for some other place where I may or may not find a suitable cafe to blog from. So, it all depends on the place where I would be residing. College has been re-opened this week. And, it feels good to have only two courses to study in this semester. Polaris and ADP Wilco are going to visit our campus in the last week of this month. But, they are going to recruit only computer science graduates as it will suffice their requirement. Well, that shouldn't bother us much as there are other companies too to visit our campus next April/May. Whatever happens, happens for the best.

December 09, 2005

The great mystery of the sea is still unsolved, it is the mystery of the BERMUDA TRIANGLE.

“The region involved, a watery triangle bounded roughly by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico, measures less than a thousand miles on any one side.” . . .So George X. Sand introduced the Triangle to his readers in October 1952 in a short article for Fate magazine, entitled “Sea Mystery at our Back Door.” Sand’s article recounted the latest disappearance (the Sandra in 1950) and went on to discuss some of the other recent baffling mysteries like NC16002, Star Tiger and Star Ariel, aside from devoting most of the article to Flight 19. The Triangle remained a colloquial _expression throughout the 1950s, employed by locals when another disappearance or unexplained crash happened. By the early 1960s, it had acquired the name The Deadly Triangle. In his 1962 book, Wings of Mystery, author Dale Titler also devoted pages in Chapter 14— “The Mystery of Flight 19”— to recounting the most recent incidents of disappearances and even began to ponder theories, such as electromagnetic anomalies and the ramifications of Project Magnet. His book would set the temper for Triangle.The Deadly Triangle as it appeared in a 1962 book Wings of Mystery by Dale Titler. The idea that Vincent Gaddis invented the shape and mystery is nonsense. It had long been popular before his time. He seems merely to have been the first one to call it Bermuda Triangle. It is also nonsense that Gaddis or anybody else ever thought that Miami, Bermuda, and San Juan were absolute nodal points. Gaddis was merely trying to give the area geographic life to a growing audience. Fate’s October 1952 issue. The Triangle begins discussions thereafter. (Just in April 1962 Allan W. Eckert had written a sensational piece in the American Legion Magazine on Flight 19 ((“The Mystery of the Lost Patrol”)) which introduced some of the most popular but erroneous dialogue purported coming from Flight 19, including lines like the ocean looks strange, all the compasses are going haywire, and that they could not make out any directions, “everything is strange.” This became a may pole for electromagnetic discussions). However, popularity on the subject was beginning to spread beyond the area of the Atlantic seaboard. But the moniker “Deadly Triangle” contained absolutely no geographic reference in it— in other words “Deadly Triangle” could be anywhere. Then in February 1964 Vincent Gaddis wrote an article for Argosy Magazine. The article was little different from others, though it added a few more recent cases like Marine Sulphur Queen. However, it was his title that finally clinched with the public: “The Deadly Bermuda Triangle.” Adding “Bermuda” finally materialized the location for everybody, though Gaddis clarified “in and about this area” many have disappeared. In his popular 1965 book Invisible Horizons, Gaddis devoted chapter 13 to “The Triangle of Death.” The concept of the Bermuda Triangle was spreading rapidly. Ironically, the first book published devoted to the subject was entitled Limbo of the Lost (1969) by John Spencer, in which he proposed the area had no real shape at all and elaborately tried to include the Gulf of Mexico as well as New Jersey. It sold in limited quantities, but was later reproduced in paperback in the early 1970s and did well. Dozens of magazine and newspaper articles came out in the early ‘70s, each author offering a general shape. Richard Winer proposed “The Devil’s Triangle” and extended it nearly to the Azores near Portugal. Ivan Sanderson was sure it was an oblong shape centered almost entirely north of Bermuda. But no book sold as well as Charles Berlitz’s 1974 bestseller, The Bermuda Triangle. Selling way over 5,000,000 copies in hardback, it became a phenomenon. Berlitz also cautioned about the exact shape, as had the others. But to this day Bermuda Triangle is deferred to for the same reason “Deadly Triangle” failed—there is simply no other name that calls to mind the general area as does Bermuda Triangle. But the vast popularity of the subject brought into vogue an art that is still trying to flourish today—debunking. Out of all the books that were published, only one remains in reprint today: Larry Kusche’s book The Bermuda Triangle Mystery

December 04, 2005

"As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two... "-Sir Norman Wisdom"One of the most difficult things in the world is to convince a woman that even a bargain costs money."-Edgar Watson Howe "A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success! "-Doug Larson"A harmful truth is always better then...a useful lie! "-Eric Bolton" When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bike. Then I realized that The Lord doesn't work that way, so I stole one and asked him to forgive me." -Erno Philips" I only go to work on days that don't end in a 'y'. "-Robert Paul"We spend the first twelve months of our children's liv! es teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up." -Phyllis Diller" Laughter is the closest distance between two people. "-Victor Borge"Start every day with a smile and get it over with. "-W.C. Fields" Everything is funny as long as it is happening to somebody else." -Will Rogers"Always get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day. "-Mickey Rooney" Women now have choices. They can be married, not married, have a job, not have a job, be married with children, unmarried with children. Men have the same choice we've always had: work or prison."-Tim Allen"If you never want to see a man again, say, 'I love you, I want to marry you. I want to have children...' - they leave skid marks. "-Rita Rudner" I'm not afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens. "-Woody Allen" Advice is what we ask for when we already know the answer but wish we didn't."-Erica Jong "Don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of it alive. " -Elbert Hubbard"Always and never are two words you should always remember never to use. "-Wendell Johnson" In life, it's not who you know that's important, it's how your wife found out."-Joey AdamsI've been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she'll kill me. " -Henry Youngman"Have you noticed that all the people in favor of birth control are already born ? "-Benny Hill

I am writing after nearly ten days. I returned from Hyderabad yesterday. It was quite a deliberate stay for one whole week and I learnt a lot though. I also got sick inbetween because of the sudden change in weather and also due to the not so hygienic food that I consumed there. Whatever it is, now I am pretty fine- back at home.

November 23, 2005

Extroversion (38%) moderately low which suggests you are reclusive, quiet, unassertive, and private.Accommodation (62%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly kind natured, trusting, and helpful at the expense of your own individual development (martyr complex).Orderliness (68%) moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, neat, structured and restrained at the expense too often of flexibility, variety, spontaneity, and fun.Emotional Stability (80%) high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic.Inquisitiveness (52%) medium which suggests you are moderately intellectual, curious, and imaginative.

At last it is a good sign for the political glitches in India. Peaceful elections in Bihar! It's a welcome change in Bihar after 15 long years of RJD rule. Finally, people have realized the true potential they have in choosing the right leader for this democratic country. But, this should not be the case with only Bihar. This should pave a new path for politics in India- a new wave that might erode the old marks.

I could never understand the reason why people in Bihar chose Lalu so religiously or was it because of rigging. Whatever it is, the outcome this time is refreshing. The election commission is finally getting its actions right. The people, the voters, the Police, everybody was sincere in their duty this time, atleast better than in the previous years. Or should I say, the system is functioning better now?

....at last from exams. Today was the last one on Reliability and Maintenance engineering. It went ok. I was really looking forward to this day. I am not expecting a very good % this time because few exams were just par. Lot's of things to do this vacation, only 15 days on hand. I will try to frequent blogging.

November 11, 2005

That's what I will call ACS from now. By the way, ACS is one of the subjects for us in this sem and refers to Adaptive Control Systems. We had ACS exam today and God! I made complete disaster out of it. It went awfully. I had learnt four tedious methods for designing adaptive systems out of five and they asked the fifth method for 16 marks! Aaaaah! Sometimes you feel so helpless inspite of having the paper in hand and ample time to fill it through. That's the way I felt at noon. I hope I won't flunk because I don't want it to happen for the first time in my student life. The biggest joke was my attempt at a question. We had to derive the minimum variance control for self-tuning regulators and I forgot the first general equation itself which had to be used to conclude the control. I knew the derivation. So, the examiner will find the correct derivation but there will be no trace of the general equation in the whole paper! What a blast!

November 09, 2005

As I was talking about books in my previous post, I thought I should mention about one of my earlier posts also titled world of books . It's a very nice poetry. It gives a great feel when read between the lines.

November 07, 2005

I have been planning to put up a list of the books in my so called personal library. I love books! And that's the reason why I never falter from talking about them. My favourite? Nothing yet. I still have to come across my favourite book. But, there are a few which I would not like to part with. Here they go, not in any order.

I really enjoyed reading Pappillon, Mahabharat (umpteenth version) and Fountainhead- Pappillon for the way it was written, Mahabharat for the way it is and Fountainhead for the mould of its characters.

There are many other books too that I liked reading. These are just few of them.

I hope to make a huge library of mine one day. So, awaiting any membership?? :-)

October 30, 2005

...because you have no rights to do so. I have been following the articles on Women and dress code in the newspapers. And, I was quite disturbed by the observations made. Now, I have my own observations. Why does everybody pose restrictions on all that is related to only women? Most of the colleges banned jeans and other western outfits on campus and moreover, a state went to the extent of banning these outfits forever just because they feel that these kind of dresses intrigue men.

Is this what you call equality and democracy, where you expect women to live their lives according to your terms? A good, old author asked women to be in the limits of decency and not dare sport jeans and other dresses. What is so indecent in wearing jeans? If that itself intrigues a man then he should be ashamed of himself and his infected mind. Violence against women has always existed. It must be taken away from roots. Why does the society blame the sufferer when you ought to punish the wrong-doer for his crime?

If a man looks at a woman it is his fault, not the woman's. Why are women made accountable for the actions of men? When men are not able to control their own actions, then they have no right to judge or dictate women and their conduct. Women have every right to do and wear what they want just like men and, men have no right to dominate them in this age of living. If there needs to be equality, let it be in every form.

October 16, 2005

I am quite busy these days and that is the reason why I have not been blogging regularly. Just had some time off in between for Dussehra. I planned to do many things but nothing seems to work. I have Life Of Pi and had been planning to start and finish it off. But, no time even to take a look at it. I heard that the movie Flight Plan is quite good. So, planning to watch it. Just a couple of weeks more and then we would be having our semester end exams and that would be the end of the 7th semester. It will then leave us with just another semester. These days I have started toning up my vocal cords again and have been successful at it to some extent. Also, read some very interesting articles in the past few days- INC- Pre-independence days, Mitrokhin Archives and the KGB allegations on INC. They are must read ones- highly engrossing!

October 09, 2005

Why did Mahatma Gandhi never win the Noble Peace Prize? It is a question people are again asking as the Norwegian committee has just announced the prize winner this year -the International Atomic Energy agency and its chief Mohammed ElBaradei. Gandhi's omission has been widely criticised to the extent that later members of the Nobel committee publicly regretted it. When the Dalai Lama was awarded the prize in 1989, the chairman of the committee said that this was "in part a tribute to the memory of Mahatma Gandhi". Gandhi, revered as the Father of the nation in India, was nominated for the prize in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and, finally, a few days before he was murdered in January 1948, notes Øyvind Tønnesson, a former Nobel E-Museum Peace editor. Information about the nominations, investigations and opinions concerning the coveted award is kept secret for 50 years and no records are available in public domain that could throw light on the matter. The Nobel Foundation has recently made public some of the details surrounding Gandhi's case for a Peace Nobel. On behalf of the Friends of India Association in Norway, Ole Colbjørnsen, deputy member of the Norwegian parliament, nominated Gandhi's name thrice - 1937, 1938 and 1939. In 1937, Gandhi was duly selected as one of 13 candidates on the Norwegian committee's short list. The committee's advisor, Professor Jacob Worm-Müller, who wrote a report on Gandhi, however was very critical of the Mahatma. "He is undoubtedly a good, noble and ascetic person - a prominent man who is deservedly honoured and loved by the masses of India...(But) sharp turns in his policies, which can hardly be satisfactorily explained by his followers. He is a freedom fighter and a dictator, an idealist and a nationalist. He is frequently a Christ, but then, suddenly, an ordinary politician," the evaluator noted, according to the documents made available on the foundation's website. The advisor pointed out that Gandhi was not consistently pacifist and that he should have known that some of his non-violent campaigns towards the British would degenerate into violence and terror. Moreover, Worm-Müller expressed doubts whether Gandhi's ideals were universal or primarily Indian: "One might say that it is significant that his well-known struggle in South Africa was on behalf of the Indians only, and not of the blacks whose living conditions were even worse." In 1947, as India won independence, Gandhi was nominated again, by several Indian leaders: B.G. Kher, Govind Ballabh Pant and G.V. Mavlankar, who later became speaker of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. His name was short-listed. The Nobel committee's advisor, historian Jens Arup Seip, wrote the evaluation report, which was not as critical as the earlier one but focused only on the Mahatma's role in India's struggle for freedom. It was not "explicitly favourable" either. The argument that went against Gandhi in 1947 was that the Nobel Peace Prize had never been awarded for any struggle for independence. "From the diary of committee chairman Gunnar Jahn, we now know that when the members were to make their decision on Oct 30, 1947, two acting committee members, the Christian conservative Herman Smitt Ingebretsen and the Christian liberal Christian Oftedal spoke in favour of Gandhi," writes Tønnesson. "Labour politician Martin Tranmæl was very reluctant to award the Prize to Gandhi in the midst of the India-Pakistan conflict, and former foreign minister Birger Braadland agreed with Tranmæl. Gandhi was, they thought, too strongly committed to one of the belligerents." The Nobel website quotes from Jahn's diary: "While it is true that he (Gandhi) is the greatest personality among the nominees - plenty of good things could be said about him - we should remember that he is not only an apostle for peace; he is first and foremost a patriot... Moreover, we have to bear in mind that Gandhi is not naive. He is an excellent jurist and a lawyer." The due date for nominations in 1948 was only two days after Gandhi's assassination. Six letters of nomination in his favour from the Quakers, Emily Greene Balch, former Laureates and others put his name on the short list for the third time. Committee advisor Seip commented in his very favourable report that "Gandhi can only be compared to the founders of religions." While there was no precedent of awarding the Prize posthumously, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation allowed it under certain circumstances, till 1974. "However, Gandhi did not belong to an organisation, he left no property behind and no will; who should receive the prize money? The director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, August Schou, asked another of the Committee's advisers, lawyer Ole Torleif Røed, to consider the practical consequences," writes Tønnesson. The opinion was negative and the committee decided to make no award that year on the grounds that "there was no suitable living candidate". The qualifying clause is the closest the committee came to honour the 'great soul'.

What Iran did for India and why it is hurt?Read this article. This gives a clear perception of the strategic moves made by Iran in 1994 and a detailed view of how India avenged at the IAEA meeting in Vienna last week.http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/03spec1.htm

September 29, 2005

I got a new mobile for myself. Had one for seven months- my first mobile, Nokia. Now I have switched to Samsung. Not because of any deficiency in the first one, but because I had to get a new one on account of a proposal that if I lend mine to my grandmother, I would get a new one. So, I got one. I'm really in love with he new mobile. It has great features as compared to the previous one- colour, EMS, MMS, double the memory, awesome pixels and what not! Now, let me see how long it will keep me engaged.

September 24, 2005

I have created a profile on Yahoo 360, the newest service being rendered by Yahoo . Another page devoted wholly to myself. It's a good way to keep in touch with one's friends through Yahoo. It will add all your friends from the friend's list on your messenger and also from your address book. And, you can always add people who are not added to your messenger.

But, one thing I feel is that nothing can beat Hi5. It's the foremost be-in-touch service offered by anyone. Rest followed. By the way, it's quite difficult and also time consuming to manage so many pages and contacts. But, I'll try and do that. After all, I started the entire thing to be in touch with friends 360 degrees a day!

September 12, 2005

My friend’s sister got married recently. We all attended the reception the night before the wedding day. I was told by one of our common friends that the dowry given to the groom was around ten lakhs and she felt that it was very less when compared to that given (taken) in her family. I was quite taken aback at the sudden remark. I have always been against this act of dowry-taking (giving). I consider it as an offence done behind the veil of a societal ritual called marriage. I chastise not only the act of taking dowry but also the act of giving it. It really surprises me when people talk about those lengthy figures that they boast of having given as dowry in their daughter’s marriage. What kind of fun is this? This is really serious and people ought to think about it now.

In olden days, brides used to get dowry from the grooms, which was called kanyasulkam. But, now the whole scenario is reversed- women have to buy (?) men. This act was made illegal by the government long back but it is still prevalent in India. Be it a Hindu, a Muslim, Christian, Sikh, one thing can be found common in their marriage- Dowry.

Why should a woman give money to a man to get married? Do her parents feel insecure and believe that their daughter would be happy if she gets into a new relationship and a new household along with money? Or do the groom’s parents feel that their son is incapable of running a household on his own? Why should one be so greedy and insecure that they want their son to be bought by someone? Is this any bidding sale of things where whoever bids the highest amount wins the bid? And you call this a society- A civilized society where people sell themselves or their children just for the sake of money. I often hear many parents saying that they are afraid of high dowries and fear whether their daughter would get married or not. Better you don’t get your daughter married than sending her to live in an uncivilized household!

September 01, 2005

“Long years ago we made a tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the W to the new, when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance…”

- Historic speech by Jawaharlal Nehru at midnight on August 15, 1947.

(Note- Why did he say, "not wholly or in full measure"? What did he mean by that?)I found the August 22nd issue of OUTLOOK very interesting. It has some brainy articles set in the pre-1947 and post 1947 period. I always wanted to know in detail about the 1984 Sikh riots. This issue will give you indispensable information on it and on many other historical events that marked the origin of an Independent India and its diversity. The cover story Heroes and Villains of 1947 will give you many insights about the motives of Nehru, Jinnah and other prominent leaders behind the partition. If you are someone interested in knowing our history- its strength and loop holes then this is something you should definitely go for.

August 31, 2005

The article below gives Sudha Murthy's account of how a job advertisement from the Tatas changed her entire life as wellas made JRD Tata change his rules. Sudha was livid when a job advertisement posted by a Tatacompany at the institution where she was completing her post graduationstated that " Lady candidates need not apply." She dashed off a post cardto JRD Tata protesting against the discrimination. Following this, Sudha was called for an interview and shebecame the first female engineer to work on the shop floor atTelco (now Tata Motors). It was the beginning of an association that wouldchange her life in more ways than one.

The following is her account:

"There are two photographs that hang on my office wall.Everyday when I enter my office I look at them before starting my day. They are pictures of two old people. One is of agentleman in a blue suit and the other is a black and white image of a man withdreamy eyes and a white beard. People have often asked me if the people in the photographsare related to me. Some have even asked me, " Is this black and whitephoto that of a Sufi saint or a religious Guru?" I smile and reply "No, nor are they related to me. These people made an impact on my life. I am grateful to them. "Who are they?" The man in the blue suit is Bharat Ratna JRD Tata and the black andwhite photo is of Jamsedji Tata." "But why do you have them in your office?" I say â€ "You can call it gratitude."

Then, invariably, I have to tell the person the followingstory. It was a long time ago. I was young and bright, bold andidealistic. I was in the final year of my Master's course in Computer Scienceat the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore, then known as the Tata Institute. Life was full of fun and joy. I did not know what helplessness or injustice meant. It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore wasgetting warm and > gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the onlygirl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete adoctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships fromUniversities in the US. I had not thought of taking up a job in India. One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job requirement. Notice from the famous automobile company Telco. It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background. At the bottom was a small line: "Lady candidates need not apply."

I read it and was very upset. For the first time in mylife I was up against the gender discrimination. Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better then most of my male peers. Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful. After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. Idecided to inform the top-most person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco. I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group. I had seen his pictures in newspapers(actually, Sumant Moolgaonkar was the company's chairman then). I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote.

The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, suchas iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives. They have caredfor higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco isdiscriminating on the basis of gender." I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mates told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs. 30 each from everyone who wanted a sari. When I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, byback then they seemed good enough to make the trip.

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell inlove with the city. To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my lifein so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office forthe interview. There were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was serious business. "This is the girl who wrote to JRD, " I heard somebodywhisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realisation abolished all fear from my mind, so Iwas rather cool while the interview was being conducted. Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased and so I told them, rather impolitely, "I hope this is only a technical interview." Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, "Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reasonis that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This isnot a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories."

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world hadbeen a limited place. I did not know the ways of large corporatehouses and their difficulties. So I answered, "But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories." Finally, after a long interview, I was told that I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me.

August 22, 2005

We had our first lab internal examination in Java for this semester today. Each of us had to execute two programs. Mine were- To find the factorial of a number using applets and To display buttons using again applets. I couldn’t get the output for the first one for a long time. The program generated three errors as expected. :D

I, somehow, managed to eliminate the errors, but then I faced a new problem. The ouput was not being shown, i.e. the corresponding factorial for the given input was not being generated in the applet window. So, this time I incorporated the print statement directly in the program such that the input fed into the applet would result an output in the command window. I successfully managed the whole thing in the end. And, the Viva-Voce was not at all difficult. He just asked some basic questions.

August 14, 2005

Is August 15th just another holiday? I never wanted to write anything on this issue. But, I have to after all that I have just read on some discussion forum. I don't want to take the site name(it's very popular). It is conducting a general comment based survey on what patriotism means to Indians. And, I've come across some very pathetic comments and opinions. I am listing a few below- the most pathetic ones if could say.

These were the answers to the question, "Your most patriotic act was...?"

- because I'm writing for this space.- I love formula1 and I support Narain Karthikeyan(What importance does personal passion hold here?)

- Every day I dream of becoming rich. So, when this fairy tale comes true, I will help people.

- Hey, I didn't go to war. I believe I saved a lot of lives that way.After reading such comments, I didn't feel like commenting there.

I came across an article recently in a newspaper. It talked about a British University which conducted a research on 'Failure' in London and other parts of England. Thousands of primary and high school teachers were called in to take part in the survey. Most of the teachers opined that the word 'Failure' should be omitted from the dictionary as they felt that the word itself seems to be detrimental to many students' success. And, they asked the Oxford to replace it with 'Deferred success'. What is the difference anyhow?

August 07, 2005

I attended my first interview at college yesterday. It was for Satyam Computer Services Ltd. The process involved three rounds- first, the written exam, second, the group discussion and the third and final, the interview round. The written exam included analytical, logical questions and a C program for which we had to guess the resulting output. I didn’t attempt the C question though, taking my poor programming skills into account. I attempted only the analytical and logical part and got through quite easily.

I was one of the 200 students short listed from among 1400 students for the GD round which also went very well. Our topic was ‘Ragging in college- should be allowed or should not be?’ At one point in time I thought I wouldn’t be selected because the panel judge reminded me that I was changing the topic, but I could manage well in the end. I scored more points in GD. Unfortunately, the panel changed in my interview round. By the way, let me not keep you in suspense, I wasn’t selected. And, that’s good in one way because had I been selected for Satyam I would not have been eligible to attend for the next round of campus interviews which include companies better than Satyam like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. Had the panel been the same for my interview, as it happened with many of the selected students, I would have had a chance of getting selected.

Sixty students were short listed for the third i.e., the interview round. I did well in the HR round. I stayed composed and didn’t lose my balance anytime in the interview. There were two gentlemen on the panel, one for HR and the other for technical. The HR round was somewhat a comedy. I wrote in my resume that my interests include classical music, painting and poetry. He asked me to sing a song. The techie asked me if I could draw his face. I said that I would try. He warned me that if I don’t get it correct, I would be rejected. He wanted to know whether I would take a risk or not. I said that I was ready for the risk. But he stopped me when I was about to draw.

The technical interview was much funnier. I was not at all interested in the job, not Satyam at least because I was in no mood to sign a two year bond with them and get stuck for the next two years. So, I tried my level best to screw the interviewers. At one point in time, the HR fellow said, “Miss. Indu Bhargavi you are very smart”. I was smiling all though the process. The HR fellow asked me whether I was feeling tensed or not. I said ‘NO’.

The technical round went very badly. Actually, I didn’t prepare for the interview. I didn’t even go through the theorems, circuits and all. They asked me some difficult questions and some easier ones too only for which I gave answers. I told them that my interesting subject is Micro Processors (I hate it!). And, he went in depth of the subject. Oh, my God! I never knew someone could frame those kinds of questions from microprocessors. The technical interview was hopeless but it was very funny to sit in front of the panel and tell them indirectly that you actually don’t need their job. I forgot to tell you the funniest part of all this. I was the first one to be called for the HR at 3P.M. I went inside and told them that I haven’t had my lunch yet and that I would feel much more tensed with an empty stomach. Then they asked me to have my lunch first and return later for the interview.

Anyhow, it was a good experience as it was my first interview and also I enjoyed a lot.

I am planning to build my own website. It may take some (or may be a lot of) time to implement it though. Actually, I had one on Tripod till last year but couldn’t update it regularly. So, the account was removed. Now that I am getting used to the blog maintenance, I think I can manage another homepage too. I had plans of including the full version of the most acclaimed work of Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali, but now I think I have to get my homepage going without it, because I lost it somewhere on my database. I hope I recover it soon.

I read Made in Japan, a biography of Akio Morita, the chairman of Sony. It’s a good book but I won’t say it makes a compulsive reading. Few pages through, and you may like it or you may not. I have yet another book to read- Business Legends by Gita P. I am quite busy these days with lots of work at hand. I had read the headlines on the Yuan revaluation a few days back. I wanted to know it in detail but no time to read the ET edition- will do it on Sunday.

July 21, 2005

…finished reading the book. The subtitle one finds on its cover is- A magical fable about following your dream. It took me two days to read the book considering my time restrictions to engage in other tasks. Coming to the book, I didn’t find anything so magical in it that could change one’s life as I heard someone saying, “It’s arguably the best book I’ve read and it completely changed my lifestyle!”

If something (like a book?) could change us so effectively, we can almost be sure of finding ourselves in a new ‘avtar’ everyday. I read the book just the way I would have read any other story or novel. Of course, there’s some message that the author tries to pass on. I found only two sentences worth mentioning from that book. I liked them; don’t ask me why. I don’t remember the words exactly in the order they were given. So, I will try to present the whole idea in my words.Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want or achieve something, the whole world will conspire to help you achieve it. There is a force, a mysterious force which will steer you to success..

There’s only one thing which makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

July 13, 2005

One of our English professors who taught us in first year left the college. He might have got a better job somewhere else. He always used to say that this was actually not what he wanted to do. I hope he is happy engaged in something else. His class used to be the best for us at that time, mainly because of his sense of humour. We always made sure not to miss his class. His puns used to be too good. We will definitely miss them.

Speaking of sense of humour, my friends feel that I am quite good at it. I don’t know if it is true but, one such incident gives me the same thought. A couple of months back I had to return home from college by bus. I was not exactly sure of the route the bus would take, so I got down at a stop which is a bit too far from mine. It was a long route and I felt that I won’t be able to walk such distance and moreover, I had no money left with me because I bought the bus ticket with whatever little money I had. I tried to take a lift but nobody seemed to be interested in stopping their vehicle at that odd hour. Meanwhile, I saw an auto-rickshaw coming my way. I signaled to him and he stopped near me. I asked him whether he was going in the same direction as my destination and he nodded. Then I asked him if he could give me a lift in his vehicle. Mouth agape, he stared at me for a second. Then he smiled for a while and asked me to sit inside.

It came with such spontaneity that I myself couldn’t believe it. I laugh whenever I think about that incident. Such incidents sometimes trigger my senses and I feel that maybe I am really humorous.

July 10, 2005

This has been quite a hectic week for us. Our college re-opened last Monday and we were asked to submit our CV’s to the placement cell for the campus placements to be held next month on campus. I don’t know how far it is true but I overheard many people talking about TCS, CTS, Infosys, Satyam, etc.

Eight of our seniors got placed in TCS and five or six in CTS through campus. I had to make three copies of my resume including changes each time until I was sure that that was the perfect one. I had difficulty trying to get the right objective or profile statement out of me that would suit this kind of a software professional job. In fact, I was never interested in this sort of a job that I have applied for. This is just because I was asked to do so by my father and moreover, I won’t lose anything by submitting my resume to the PT.

This semester will definitely be tight for me, in the sense that I will be required to do a lot apart from my regular academics. We also have Java this sem which will bring the wreck out of me! Being an electronics student, I have enjoyed the privilege of not having to deal with programming; first year being an exception where we had to indulge in C. But, it was a big pain for me. As far as I am concerned, I am not suitable or adaptive to programming at all. But, my CV boasts of my programming skills (hey! I didn’t call it my proficiency etc. which otherwise many use to make the employers believe in them at least till the start of the interview because once the interview starts, it solely depends on how well you make them believe that you are the right person for them to employ) in C, Java (that I am studying in this sem), Assembly and microprocessors and microcontrollers like 8086 and 8051. I didn’t put my grades though. :D

Enough of programming for now. I have to prepare for my Java lab tomorrow. Huh!

June 30, 2005

Well, I’m back after quite a long, long gap - spent a few weeks at Hyderabad. I also missed out my one of my friend’s wedding that I actually wanted to attend. My summer vacation is going to end this Monday. Back in college again! Huh!

I am reminded of a certain incident and I'll share it with you. I’m very particular about gender discrimination and I don’t encourage it. I will tell you a small incident which will mirror this very idea of it. It so happened that a few weeks back I went to the RTO office to get a learner’s license for a four-wheeler. There were many others who came with the same purpose as mine. We were asked to stand in a queue to pay some amount for the receipt and to get our photograph taken. It was quite a long queue but, what troubled most of us was the soaring heat at that part of the day.

It took 5-10 minutes for each person to get his work done – my turn came up only after waiting for 40 minutes. I was the only lady in the queue. After sometime, a 30-35 year old lady showed up and forced her way into the room (where we were supposed to go) by avoiding the already formed decent long line. Some of the gentlemen raised their brows but didn’t say anything to her. After sometime, an elderly man came up to me (it seemed to me as if he was an employee of RTO) and told me that this queue was not meant for ladies and that ladies (here, I) can go inside without standing in lines and get their work done becaue they had to be given special treatment, unlike men.

I politely turned down his advice and continued to stand in the same place where I was before. A little while later, he came up to me again and gave me the same advice. This time I had to give him my answer. I told him that I would be quite comfortable standing than going inside under such special norms. I also informed him of the equality between men and women that I believe in. He was quite surprised to hear such a thing from a girl. He said that if you (women) yourself say like this then what can we men do about treating you specially at public places and government offices. I said there was no need of such so-called ‘special treatment’ and moreover, if they (men) can stand in long queues and wait then I as a woman also can do that.

Don’t degrade us nor provide us with any special treatment. Treat us properly as you would treat any other man and that’s more than enough.

May 12, 2005

Now that I am completely free I have again started to show some sort of an inclination towards singing, which I usually do all the time (typical crooning). I learnt carnatic classical (vocal) music for some time long back. Then I suddenly stopped singing. You would not dare to listen to my voice now. Would you? It's become coarse, something that arises from lack of attention or committment as somebody would say. Or, let me put it this way- misusing or literally 'not using' what you could use to the widest.

Well, past is past and that is something which I hate pondering over again and again. I also don't know how long this singing schedule will continue. It might get stopped invariably or it nay just go on and on!

May 05, 2005

Finally, I'm out of the examination crux! We took the last one today. Most of my friends are on their way to get trained for the competitive entrance tests/exams like GRE/GATE/CAT/GMAT- what not?

I must blame myself for spoiling today's paper which otherwise should have been answered very easily. I was very cool yesterday without any prior exam tension and watched two flicks- 'Forest Gump' and 'Mr. Bean'. Now who is going to accept any of the reasons that I might give once the results are out. I won't be giving any of them, though. No plans of scheduling my vacation as of yet, but I would certainly watch 'constantin', 'million dollar baby' and 'kingdom of heaven' amongst others.

April 28, 2005

Only two exams left. I took one on signal processing yesterday. My set (paper) was the toughest one. I managed well though. I’m a bit scared about the last exam which I will be taking on the 5th of May. It’s an advanced course in my chosen field of technology – Advanced control systems. We studied control systems in the last sem. And, this is not the end of it because we have Adaptive control systems in the next sem. Good god! - Whoever designed these courses.

Laxmi told me that our internal marks were on display the other day. But before I could get a glimpse of my marks, they were taken off the board. Thank god! otherwise it would have been another scary day for me. I never understood this particular gesture of displaying everyone’s marks in front of the examination cell by our college for everyone to get to know one’s marks. If they are outstanding or par excellence in academics, then its pretty fine and it’s also something which you can, for a while, take pride in. But, what if they are scaled down the list? Who ever will enjoy such statistics or situation?

This time I didn’t want my Computer networks’ marks to be displayed in public; I couldn’t manage to score well in it. And, any guesses on what my next exam is? – Computer Networks!! So, let me make this blog rest for sometime while I go and take on the mighty networks.

April 19, 2005

That's what I am going to become if I open my computer again. My system broke down for the umpteenth time. Every time it goes down and I keep opening my processor to find the fault. Now my mouse isn't working. It says some USB device failure. I think now there's some problem with the mother board. So, I've to open it again. Just a couple of times more and I would be ready to build a new computer myself becuase I've almost got used to each and every hardware component on the chips. Let me see if I can do that in a more economical way. :D

April 14, 2005

Back after a two day journey to Nellore. It was a long journey by road. If you go by a bus or train, it will take around 3 ½ hours to reach there. But, we hired a sumo. So it took us just 2 hours to reach Nellore, mainly because we preferred NH5 (national highway 5). We encountered three toll gates in our one-way journey. So, on the whole a total of six toll gates for the two-way journey and we ended up paying 20Rs/- at each gate.

Though we hadn’t much to do, we managed to spend our time in a better way. We visited ‘venkiah swami’s Samadhi (coffin or a sarcophagus, being precise). As far as my knowledge is concerned, he was a singer who had won the hearts of the people through the magic in his voice. It is also believed that he often used to cure the ailments of those who came to him with belief. I really wonder when I hear such things. Can someone do any magic with his/her voice? Anyways, my voice isn’t so great that I can make wonders with it. I also heard before that Balamurali Krishna, the great classical singer down South made the skies rain with his voice. I remember seeing few movies on these lines as a child, where the hero had to light the lamps (guess what… he had to do that without touching them!!) in a temple (or some foolish place!) in order to have the consent of the heroine’s father for their marriage and in the end he lights them up with a senti-song. When will the Indian cinema raise its standard? :(

Scientists claim they have measured the shortest interval of time ever. Researchers used short pulses of laser light to produce images of electrons leaving atoms and recorded what happened to within 100 attoseconds.

To imagine how long this is, if 100 attoseconds is stretched so that it lasts one second, one second would last 300 million years on the same scale.

Scientists used the technique to record the dynamics of electrons in atoms and report their findings in Nature.

The research team employed extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light pulses to excite atoms, prompting them to emit electrons, the small negatively charged particles that are a fundamental part of every atom.

"We accelerate the electrons spinning around the nucleus. Some pick up so much energy that they leave the atoms forever," Professor Ferenc Krausz, of the Technische Universitat Wien, in Austria, told BBC News Online.

Future clocks

At the same time, the scientists used a device called a Few-Cycle Laser to capture "tomographic images" of these electrons that gave information about how they behaved with time.This allowed the scientists to distinguish events within 100 attoseconds, the shortest interval of time ever recorded.

THE ATTOSECOND-An attosecond is one quintillionth (10 to the power of minus 18) of a secondCaesium atomic clocks are accurate to one second over many millions of years.

April 08, 2005

Exams are fast approaching. Now, you might ask what I’m doing here instead of studying for my exams. God only knows how I’m able to cope with my acads. I was never interested in technical fields like engineering. It was just a traditional choice (this is what I call conformism). Now that I’ve made that choice by myself, I’ll have to stand by it whatsoever. And, I think I’ve been successful at that to some extent- I didn’t flunk any course till now. Thank god! I can’t even imagine an F grade on my marks list. Though, I managed to pass a few (very few) of them with a small yet a visible margin. Courses like electronic measurements, operating systems etc. which I hated studying. But, I always got cent in mathematics. We studied engineering mathematics for three semesters.

I’m trying really hard to give my average a big push. It’s decent enough, though. But, I’m not satisfied as usual. And, I really hope my programming skills get improved. Programming and languages are a big no-no with me. I just hate it. But, as I said, a choice made once should be justified. That’s what I’m trying to do- justifying my choice, reasonably.

I heard many people saying that justifying something which you yourself don’t believe in is wrong. I don’t think so. The choice I made may not be in my favour. Yet, if not to prove myself, at least I’m trying to justify my expectations and decision. Good or bad- I made a decision. It’s my duty to stand by it and see through it successfully because if I fail, I’ll never be able to make any decision again in my life with such stability and confidence.

I'm not pretty sure about my readers but ask others who witnessed my poetry skills. They never ask whether I've written any new HIndi poems or not. I don't understand the reason behind it- they could either not understand them or not interested (?) in them. You (blog readers) also might find it difficult to digest my Hindi poems (how many did you publish, by the way?). Hey! that is the reason why I'm not publishing them. I like poetry- be it reading others' poems or writing my own. I published only one of my Hindi poems (Talaash)in this blog.

Though, my mother tongue is not Hindi, I manage to write poems in Hindi. (I may not be as fluent as I am in Telugu but I can read, write and speak in Hindi) Thanks to my 3 years stay in Delhi. Comparably, my Telugu poems are better than my Hindi ones. I write small poems in Hindi without much vocabulary requirement. :D

I wanted to publish my Telugu poems directly (i.e. no transliteration) but had to face some technical problems and lack of time to solve them. Finally, I've been able to solve them. And, from now onwards I'll be posting my Telugu poems now and then (whenever I feel like). But, my best poems will always be with me. If you are someone whom I know, then you can read them personally. :-)

April 03, 2005

Found this blog while surfing. At the very first sight, I liked its look (not simplicity as I usually define it) but something which cannot be expressed through words! (at least, not by me). But, there was some kind of abstractness added to it. (What?) Forget it. Just take a look at the pictures.

My eyes fixated on these pictures uploaded in the blog. I found only two of them worth mentioning. First, the one by Neelambari- 'Lullaby Lost' and the other by Ahir Bhairav- 'Strains of Loneliness'.

April 02, 2005

Some of you might find it interesting. It also includes some sensitive matters like why Washington is keen to give Pakistan weapons which can only be used against India and the sale of F16s to Pakistan etc.

After nearly three weeks, I’ve started reading a book. I haven’t time these days. I think it’ll prove to be a good one. The book, ‘The Da Vinci Code’ by Dan Brown, is supposed to be the bestseller in New York and other parts of U.S. It is considered to be a pace-thriller and a pulse-racing thriller. Let me see, how far it can raise my pulse rate and my adrenaline level. From now onwards, I’ll try to give a review of the book that I’ll read (of course, only those that I like). If I like this book, I’ll write a review on it later.

Sometimes we expect unexpected things from others, just to prove ourselves correct. We expect them to do something wrong which we usually anticipate. But, somewhere in our sub-conscious mind, we hope it never happens. Take the example of our being searched at Kasi for cameras and mobile phones. I had mentioned this in one of my earlier posts- U.P. journey briefed-II.

I always felt that most of the Indian police are not duty-minded and sincere courtesy the corruption that is growing day-by-day, knowing no bounds. I was pretty sure that the security personnel will fail to take notice of our camera. I expected them to fail because I didn’t want them to defy conformity and win against me. Yet, I desperately wanted myself to be proved wrong because I always had this pseudo-image of police in mind wherein, they never fail.

It was like a catch-22 situation. If I had won, they would have failed (which means my failure because I wanted them to win) and if I had lost, then they would have won (which again leads to my failure because my expectations would have gone wrong then). It was neither a win/win nor a win/lose situation, but was an absolute lose/lose situation. No matter what they did- whether they succeeded or not- I would’ve lost, anyway. However, I would’ve felt happier had it happened the other way round, i.e. getting my expectations proved wrong. But, then, not every time one can win or lose. Sometimes it happens like this too.

“We expect things to be wrong. But, in the end we realize that it is not the things that went wrong but it was we who were on the wrong side of the game.”

March 29, 2005

Yet another farewell party added to our college calendar! We had thrown a party for our seniors. And, it turned out to be quite a big bash (hey! It was a hit). After all, it was arranged by me (Indu? Ok, my friends were with me). Our seniors tried to rag us, as though it wasn’t sufficient in our fresher year in college. The best thing about the party was the food. It was too delicious to resist eating.

The party started at 7:00pm and went on up to 11:30pm at night. We had lots of fun. We presented the GATE rankers (of course, only those with very good percentile) with small mementos. We had actually planned many other events too-like ‘Mr. Senior’, ‘Ms. Senior’, ‘Best look of the night’ etc., but couldn’t slot them within the stipulated time. Well, no regrets even then. The party was a hit and we were cool (relaxed!) because last time it got cancelled due to some problems. We had loads of fun. Did someone say that all is well that ends well?

This is in reply to the comment made by one of my friends on my previous post. I chose to give reply on the main page itself. I think it deserves to be here.

The 'all' that I referred to in the previous post was not meant to be generalized. So, some of my blog readers may not understand the context being handled. They (the 'all' that I have been referring to) are not an important part of my life (not necessarily), but they chose to be that way. I don't think there is any need to take their names out because they themselves know it all. The least I talk of them, the happier I'll be; but never in my life can I forget them because if I forget them, I cannot remain resolute and indomitable.

There's a lot to be said, but I choose to stay silent. What has to happen will happen, anyway.

This is not contempt (perk! are you reading this?) for 'all', but a blessing in disguise for me. I like to be an optimist, seeing it from the lighter side. So, now I have no hatred for anyone as such. If this is what I'm expected to carry along stably, I will, because Here, I am

March 25, 2005

Many of you may or may not agree with me in this context, but I believe it- The title of a blog gives some hint about its blogger. Whenever I visit a blog for the first time, I try to analyze its title. It may not give out a vivid description of the blogger, but it definitely will tell something about the person. In this scrutinizing process, I could understand some of the bloggers (I don’t find it necessary to mention their names in this context). Now, you might ask whether it works every time. It may not happen that way all the time. But, in most of the cases it will be true.

Many asked me the basis on which I named my blog (now, don’t exaggerate indu! All right, five or six). They wanted to know the hidden meaning of it. Those made me write a post regarding it. I never mentioned it though. This reminds me of ‘I Do’ as I said in my earlier post. It is the name of the cruise owned by Gail Wynand, a character from the book, ‘The Fountainhead’.

I’m not an open book, but I don’t mind sharing a few of my personal thoughts with you. My earlier post with the same title as that of my blog’s title can be read here.Now, do you agree with me?

Finally, the traffic in my blog is on a rise. Thanks to ‘Blogstreet India’ and other engines. I got registered with these search engines just three weeks back. Quite a commendable rise! My blog is being visited by my college mates too. I told only two of my friends when I started blogging. What extra publicity could I ask for? :D

Moreover, I never found any need to publicize my blog because I write for myself. If someone finds it interesting, he/she is most welcome. Now, that doesn’t mean that I don’t care my blog readers. I do. (This ‘I do’ reminds me of something which I will be talking of later). I expect my blog to be read. Otherwise, it would never have been made public. Let’s see how far it goes- my blog and its traffic too.

March 23, 2005

I feel relieved and reassured whenever I see budding talent. Last week at the Hyderabad airport, my cousin came to meet me. He brought a very beautiful painting (a glass framed canvas painting) along with him. I was amazed when he told me that it was actually done by his son (my nephew). I know that he paints but never expected such artistry from him. I loved it. It touched my artistry which has been dumped for quite sometime now. Most of you may not know that I am a painter (oh, really?). I used to paint on canvas and used to sketch. Now, I myself wonder where all that has gone.

My last painting (be it a paper sketch) was done in my +2. It has been three years. What have you been doing all these years, Indu? I don’t know. May be, I wanted to concentrate more on my academics (big grin!). Even my poetic influx is seeking surplus breaks these days. I never knew that if one aspect or a part of your mind (thoughts) is in a muddle, then it affects the others too. To top it all, a story (short novel :D) that I had started writing a year back is still left to be completed. Untouched!

March 22, 2005

No!! Don’t think further. I’ve no such plans.It’s just a joke- had nothing better to write.So, read along…

~ Three Construction workers are working on the 20th floor of a tallbuilding in Bombay. One is a Mallu, the second is a Bengali and the third is aSardarji. Every day all the three meet in the lunch hall and have theirlunch together. One fine day: the Mallu opened his lunch box and findsidlis in the box. He says "I am fed up of eating these idlis daily. If Ifind idlis in the box tommorow, i will jump from the 20th floor and die."Next the Bengali opens his lunch box and finds Fish in it and says, "If Ifind fish in my lunch box tommorow, I am going to jump from the 20th floor ofthis building and die." Next the Sardarji opens his lunch box and finds Parathas in it and says, "Mother promise, if I find parathas in my box tommorow I am also going to jump from the 20th floorNext day the three friends meet in the lunch room for lunch. Mallu openshis lunch box and finds Idlis and promptly jumps from the 20th floor and dies.The Bengali opens his lunch box and finds fish in it and jumps from the20th floor and dies. Sardarji opens his box and finds parathas and he alsojumps from the 20th floor and dies.In the funeral held for all the three friends by their colleagues, the Mallu's widow says, "I did not know he hated idlis so much.If not I would have packed something else for his lunch." The Bengali'swidow says, “I did not know he hated fish so much. If not I would have packed something else for his lunch." The sardarji's widow says, "I do not understand what went wrong. My husband always made his own lunch!~(source: unknown)